Jennifer Johnson-Hanks has decided to step down as Executive Dean of the College of Letters & Science (L&S) at the conclusion of her five-year term on June 30, 2026.
Since assuming the role in July 2021, Executive Dean Johnson-Hanks has led L&S through a period of visionary growth and strategic organizational shifts. During her tenure, Johnson-Hanks launched L&S Futures, an initiative reimagining the general education...
Since the founding of the College of Letters & Science, the L&S Executive Committee (EC) has been charged with a singular responsibility: “the general oversight of the welfare and instruction of the students of the College.” For a unit with the broad scale and complexity of L&S, this mission requires deeply thoughtful and collaborative governance.
The below message was sent to campus leaders and the Biological Sciences community on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
Dear Colleagues,
We wish to let you know that Richard Harland will be completing his planned three-year appointment as dean of the Division of Biological Sciences on June 30, 2027. We are grateful for his many years of service in leadership roles within the division.
During his tenure, Dean Harland has continued the Division of Biological Science’s long history of scientific and scholarly excellence. He has focused on deepening connections with campus and...
As tensions have flared over events ranging from the 2020 murder of George Floyd to the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk, our nation’s divisions seem to grow more and more stark. Against that backdrop, Berkeley’s new course “Openness to Opposing Views” aims to foster dialogue across ideological divides.
The asynchronous, self-paced course launched in the summer with just 50 enrollees. Since then, it has grown to roughly 700 students, with thousands more Cal faculty, staff, and alumni taking advantage of the free, non-...
The College of Letters & Science Advisory Board is pleased to welcome four new members in Fall 2025. The L&S Advisory Board is a volunteer group of leaders in leaders in industry, government, and academia who are deeply committed to the mission of the College to provide a world-class liberal arts undergraduate education at UC Berkeley and to be a global leader in basic research and training within each of its represented disciplines.
Get to know new members Janet Dorling, Ned Purdom, Po Chi Wu, and Laura Young by reading their responses to the introduction Q&A below.
Now available to all students, faculty, staff and alumni, the class features lectures and discussions with top UC Berkeley scholars and offers suggestions on navigating especially challenging conversations during polarized times.
Amir Rafiei has long known that some topics can be divisive. But he hadn’t realized how his own actions may have caused divides in his seemingly neutral hobby of filmmaking.
Sometimes he’d feel “locked in” with his own thoughts and ideas. He’d stop listening to what his collaborators were saying about shot techniques or narrative structures...
The Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities will boost its fellowship and Art of Writing programs thanks to a generous gift from Matt and Margaret Jacobson. The couple pledged $750,000 to create the Paul Alpers Memorial Fund, honoring the founding director of UC Berkeley’s renowned nexus of humanities research and events.
“We feel so loved,” said Stephen Best, the center’s current faculty director, about the Jacobsons’ support. “I don't have a better way of expressing how deeply appreciative we are to have two people who get what we do and want to see us...
What role do the humanities play in a world challenged by climate change, rising authoritarianism, censorship, racism, wars and collapsed economies?
The humanities and their forms of historical, visual and cultural literacy are critical to understanding and addressing the human experience and the planet’s survival, says Sara Guyer, dean of the Division of Arts and Humanities in UC Berkeley’s College of Letters and Science.
Chancellor Rich Lyons and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Ben Hermalin announced today that Interim Dean Richard Harland has been appointed as dean of the Division of Biological Sciences:
Dear Campus Community,
We are pleased to announce that Richard Harland has been selected to serve as dean of the College of Letters & Science Division of Biological Sciences at UC Berkeley. Professor Harland has been serving the university as interim dean since July 2024, senior associate dean since 2016, and professor of molecular and cellular biology...
